Ki’lolo Westerlund knows she played the lead role in the NFL Flag 50 commercial football game, which will air during Super Bowl Lix. She knew she would show up with past and present NFL players like Myles Garrett, Justin Jefferson and Marshawn Lynch. She just didn’t sone it. It immediately aired millions of screens worldwide after the half-time, but the 17-year-old flagpole star actually played in New Orleans with her father.
Westerlund is an outstanding receiver and defensive back at Las Vegas Free high school. She also helped the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team win gold medals in the 15U and 17U groups of the U.S. Football Junior International Cup from 2022 to 2024. Last year, she became the first winner of the Class I Flag Football Scholarship, and will be part of the 2025 U.S. Women’s National National Team later this month before attending Alabama State University this fall.
But when Westerlund’s phone notification blows up, she eagerly awaits the opportunity to witness the Super Bowl commercial in person. After the third quarter, it played on the screen of the Caesar Super Racing team.
Essentially, Westerlund plays his own performance, but the time of the clock can be traced back to 40 years in 1985. She plays a high school student who is still on the grill, juking and dodging back despite her skepticism about her male counterparts. The climax is a scene where she mimics the Philadelphia Eagles and runs backwards with a gravity backward obstacle that embarrasses opponents who question their skills.
Abandon the past. Let’s get girls flag football in all 50 states. #NFLFLAG50 #sblixhttps://t.co/mwxpxj0ogy pic.twitter.com/i0yzbdyzgo
– NFL (@NFL) February 10, 2025
Westerlund sat in the Hawks fan section while the commercial was playing – standing in the Hawks fan section, and the birds faithful around her went crazy as they witnessed the Hawks’ defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It’s really an honor,” Westerlund said in a recent phone interview. “It all hit me. I was so excited. I was like, ‘Wow, this is actually happening. It’s crazy. Everyone around me loves it, “Wait, it’s you! ”
The NFL Flag 50 is a campaign that the league began to promote women’s flag football as an approved college high school sport in all 50 states. There are currently 14 states that have approved it, Louisiana recently approved it with conditional approval, and another 18 states have begun pilot programs. Since the 1990s, the NFL Flag Program has provided opportunities for young people of all genders to learn and participate in the sport.
If you’re wondering why the NFL gathers two minutes of ads in a 30-second commercial sale event that reportedly sells about $8 million, the popularity of Flag Football and the league’s investment in the sport – has exploded in recent years.
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Flag Football will debut as an Olympic sport in a five-on-five format at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The NFL changes the Pro Bowl to the 2023 Flag Football format. While it is uncertain whether NFL players will play in 2028, this is being discussed by league officials and U.S. football (the U.S. Soccer Council of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee).
Over the past five years, Flag Football has become a college sport in NAIA, NJCAA and NCAA Level I, II, II and III. Earlier this month, the sport made a recommendation to join the NCAA’s emerging women’s program, which will allow schools in all three NCAA departments to make a deeper commitment to the sport and one day it is possible to submit it to the championship.
Alabama State is a football club program that became the first DI school to own a women’s flag football program in April 2024. It became the first DI school to receive a scholarship for the sport in the past offseason. It went to Westerlund.
When Alabama State coach Jennifer Constuble received the scholarship approval, she knew she wanted to use it for a game-changer not only on the field, but also a trailblazer.
“To be honest, it’s effortless,” the officer said recently. “She is the first choice for me to do this. …She will be the one that kids will look up to.”
Westerlund is excited to compete at the college level, but her bigger goal is to compete more broadly in the 2028 Olympics.
“Absolutely,” Westlund said when asked if she thinks people are increasingly accepting girls and women in football. “They are walking around trying to understand it.
“For those who still don’t have, they will soon.”
Ki’lolo Westerlund is the star of the two-minute Super Bowl ad for the NFL Flag 50. (Provided by NFL)
Bored leads the Westerlund flag.
She was a volleyball and rugby player who had no intention of playing football before the forced closure of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world. But for some time in 2020, she decided to try Apex Predators, the youth flag football club in Las Vegas.
“I’m actually really bad,” Westlund said. They started playing against the boys’ team. Although Westerlund gradually improved, the team performed poorly.
“We’ve been getting beaten, calling and teasing, and I think that brings us closer to a team,” Westerlund said. “It just pushes us to keep fighting.”
As Apex predators develop better chemistry, they start talking about their desire to deal with other girls at some point. So they work hard to promote competitions locally and in other states, and they participate in competitions to gain interest.
Nevada has approved flag football as a college high school sport in 2016, so Westerlund can start the game when he enrolls at Liberty High in 2021. This is also the first football game for the US national team. The process of producing a junior national team is Westerlund’s eye-opening experience.
“There are a lot of girls out there. Seeing (all) like-minded people before the trial began, which made me want to move on,” Westerlund said. “It made me realize that it was bigger than what we had in the minor leagues in Las Vegas.”
Unlike her flag football ex, Westerlund has other role models she can serve as role models. The biggest one is Ashlea Klam, who became the youngest player to become the American women’s national team in 2023 at the age of 19.
Meanwhile, Westerlund began to gain a reputation in his own rights. A few years ago, when coaching a club team at the Los Angeles Open (a flag football game), the police station was short and found themselves looking for an extra body.
The police happened to be a friend of Aunt Westrund, who signed the team in town. The team continues to win the game.
3X Gold Medal Ki’lolo Westerlund joins us after starring @nflflag Business during the 50s #superbowllix And discuss becoming the first flag football player to receive the NCAA D1 Flag Football Scholarship 🙌@Therokuchannel |Check the local list pic.twitter.com/8ke4ronxeg
– Good Morning Football (@GMFB) February 10, 2025
Although Westerlund’s skills stand out, so is her infectiousness.
“Her personality, her presence, leadership – she blends with a group of girls she has never seen before,” Consduble said. “They all become friends.
Constuble continued: “Her playing abilities talk to herself. That’s the real ambassador of the sport, and it’s really a key role, and the person young girls can look up to. It goes beyond athleticism. She’s just a modest person, mindset of the mind: “I can do it, you can do it, we can do it together better.” ”
Westerlund has been dancing and can’t stop his mouth – whether it’s talking about trash with the opposing team, complaining about the phone to the referee or encouraging teammates. She supports it with her athleticism and competitiveness.
“I think it’s just my confidence – that’s what makes me stand out,” Westerlund said. “My passion for this game is so strong. It’s not just football. It’s all. I always want to be a great example for a bigger purpose and a bigger reason. I always want to set a good example for other young or older players.”
As Westerlund prepares to transition to college, Alabama becomes an easy option. It’s an HBCU, and his black and Samoan heritage attracted her. This will allow her to major in fire science, which she hopes to use to become a firefighter. Given that the program just started last year, it provided her with the opportunity to help build something.
“It means the world to me,” Westlund said. “Five years ago, I couldn’t see myself in this situation because I knew nothing about the flag. I saw growth and knew I would have an impact. It was just a bigger step to open windows for many young women.”
To make up, Westerlund’s Flag football career will go far beyond Alabama.
“I think she’s already on that radar and becoming that Olympic team in 2028.” “If there’s a professional NFL flag football program that’s all men, she might have done that, too. Her work ethics and her motivation are far beyond most ages, even greater than her. She did everything with a passionate heart that the only limitation is the people she gives to herself.”
(Provided by US Football)
Constuble began coaching Flag Football in 2003 when she and her husband started the NFL Flag program in Victorville, California. The sport has made a lot of progress in her long journey with flag football.
There are now more than 100 countries playing football. From 2014 to 2023, the number of children playing flag football in the United States increased by 38% (according to U.S. football) more than 1.6 million. In the same time frame, the number of girls participating in flag football increased by 44%, exceeding 230,800.
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“I’ve been investing for over 20 years, so for me, it’s been a long time,” Constuble said. “The sport has taken over the hearts of many young ladies. These young ladies may have grown up watching their father’s old movies, or watching brothers outside the field or cousins cheering in the stands, having a real love for the game. Now, we’ve seen so many girls have the opportunity to play on their own.”
Still, when she started in Alabama last November, there was still grassroots work to be done.
In January this year, Constuble held a public trial for her inaugural team. She landed on a group of 26 women, none of whom were going to play football when they attended school.
“Ninety percent of them have never played football,” Constanbul said. “They just really love football and know they want to be part of something special.”
Westerlund is expected to lead the charge. If she competes in the 2025 U.S. Women’s National Team later this month, she will compete in the 2025 IFAF Americas Flag Football Championship, which determines who will qualify for the 2026 World Championships and World Olympics in August.
“Then, I also tried to be an Olympic team, which was amazing. I absolutely love representing my country,” Westerlund said. “After that, whether I’m coaching or playing, I just want to make a constant impact. I do want to be a firefighter, but of course I’ll make time for football.
“My goal is to stay dedicated, be consistent and inspire others.”
(Top photos provided by American football)
